It takes a lot of water to make a metropolis grow.
In the case of Chicago, there’s Lake Michigan, of course, and the Chicago River. And thanks to 12 years of planning, surveying and digging, there’s the Illinois & Michigan Canal, which began to flow on April 16, 1848. The 97-mile waterway that stretches from Chicago to LaSalle-Peru connected the eastern seaboard through the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, spurring trade and settlement.
“The canal was extremely important in developing all of northeastern Illinois,” said John Lamb, director of the Canal and Regional History Collection at Lewis University in Romeoville. Goods and people flowed into and out of the Midwest along its many ports and established Chicago as a great metropolis, Lamb said.
Its barges, mules, lockkeepers and boatmen are long gone, but a series of parties to honor them and their contribution to the area is just beginning. The bash marking the canal’s 150th birthday will begin in mid-April with special exhibits, demonstrations, tours, re-enactments, Canal Digger’s Ball, fishing tournament and hiking and biking events along the old tow path, where men and animals used to walk along the canal to haul barges.
“The Erie Canal had a very big impact on development and settlement (in the U.S.), but of the (country’s) other 50 inland canals, this one had the next largest impact,” Lamb said. “It’s still in existence. That’s a reason to celebrate.”
The canal has fascinated Ken Burrell of Downers Grove for several years. “I don’t think people realize how important the canal was to Chicago,” he said. “It has intrigued me because it’s all part of the development of the Midwest. When you think about the names of Chicago streets and local towns — Canalport, Bridgeport and Lockport — the names stem from sites along the canal.”
In recognition of the national significance of the historic canal and the surrounding landmarks and communities, former President Ronald Reagan in 1984 signed a bill creating the Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor. The corridor, which at its narrowest extends about three miles on each side of the canal to more than seven miles on each side at the widest point, encompasses more than 40 towns in five counties — Cook, DuPage, Will, Grundy and LaSalle — as well as natural areas and state parks. It covers approximately 322,000 acres.
Many people don’t realize that the area has the Heritage Corridor designation, said Bob Noonan, vice president of marketing for the Heritage Corridor Visitors Bureau in Joliet. “In the last five years (in part because of promotion), this has been the fastest growing region of the state for tourism.” The U.S. Department of the Interior estimates that about 5.4 million visitors frequent corridor sites, especially Starved Rock State Park and the I&M Canal State Trail, and another 6.1 million visit the river casinos in Joliet each year (although the boats ply the Des Plaines River, they fall within the corridor).
“The sesquicentennial events are just one component, another step in rediscovering the cultural heritage of Chicago and northeastern Illinois,” Noonan said. “Once visitors are introduced to the trails and resources this year, they’ll come back.”
The desk at which Reagan signed the corridor legislation is on permanent display at the LaSalle County Historical Museum in Utica. Located in a former canal warehouse, the museum features “Shared Vision,” a permanent exhibit highlighting clothing, tools, photos and business records related to the region.
The Will County Historical Society in Lockport will host a re-enactment of the canal’s opening ceremonies from noon to 3 p.m. April 16 at 803 N. State St., in the Pioneer Settlement alongside the canal.
“Lockport was the canal’s headquarters, and many of the original buildings associated with it have been restored,” Lamb said. “A good example is the Will County Historical Society, which is housed in the canal’s original headquarters.”
From 1 to 5 p.m. April 18, the official inauguration of the sesquicentennial will take place at Chicago’s Navy Pier, the corridor’s easternmost point. Festivities that day include the dedication of the Pier’s Gateway Park mosaic sculpture, the sealing of an I&M Canal time capsule (in which will be placed letters and photos from corridor communities detailing life in 1998), music and, of course, a birthday cake.
Trolleys will provide free transportation from Navy Pier to the Chicago Cultural Center to view “Prairie Passage: Photographs of the Illinois & Michigan Canal Corridor by Edward Ranney.” Ranney, who once lived in Libertyville, now is in Santa Fe, N.M.
In addition to Ranney’s contemporary black-and-white photos, there will be photographic highlights the region’s past through 19th Century images of the canal, street scenes from canal towns and historic maps and paintings.
“Prairie Passage” will move to the Illinois State Museum Lockport Gallery in the Gaylord Building at 200 W. 8th St. in Lockport, where it will be on display from July 24 to Oct. 30.
“That’s an unusually long time for an exhibit, but given the importance, we decided to do that,” said Jim Zimmer, gallery director. “We wanted to extend it into fall for students, especially those studying history.
“It’s a fairly substantial exhibition with about 120 photographs. It’s a comprehensive look at the canal in a contemporary setting. The photos will give a much fuller appreciation of the length of the canal and how it interacts with the local geography.”
The canal is more than a historical footnote, experts say.
“There’s a reason that Chicago is bigger than St. Louis or Cincinnati. It’s because of the canal,” said Ann Hintze, executive director of the Gaylord Building Historic Site, which is part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit organization of more than 275,000 members that provides leadership, education and advocacy to save America’s diverse historic places and to revitalize communities. The trust plans to open two major exhibitions in the Gaylord Building in November. The first floor will be the History Gallery, featuring artifacts, exhibit panels and photos, and the second floor will be Hands-On History, an interactive exhibit.
“Most people like history more than they realize,” Hintze said. “We hope to present it in an interesting fashion. We’re expecting a lot of visitors.”
Its attractions will serve school groups as well as individuals who want to do their own investigation and research.
“We’re going to talk about the canal in terms of the people, the commodities and the ideas,” Hintze said. “We hope that children and adults will come away with a sense of local history and an entertaining experience.”
Outside the Gaylord Building, visitors can stroll, jog or bike along the trail that was the canal’s old towpath.
“This summer, the trail will be extended so you’ll be able to ride your bike (approximately 75 miles) from Lockport to LaSalle,” Noonan said. “From Channahon to LaSalle (the distance covered now) it’s 61 miles, the longest continuous recreational trail and one of the best bicycling areas in the state” because people don’t have to dodge cars as they ride and they can also bike through towns and stop to eat or shop, he said.
Bob Saigh of Hinsdale has strolled the Canal’s trail in Lockport. “We’ve gone in the fall and the summer,” he said. “It was gorgeous. Its setting (amid the old buildings) is quite beautiful.”
In the summer of 1996, a major flood crushed a dam, draining a 15-mile section of the canal from Channahon to Morris. At 10 a.m. on April 20, a “Canal Re-Watering” ceremony will take place in Channahon State Park when the Illinois Department of Natural Resources taps into the DuPage River to begin the return of canoe and fishing activities along that portion of the canal.
Looking for a place to try out his new kayak, Burrell in 1995 visited the canal in Channahon and at Morris. “I was disappointed because of the slow-moving water and the debris,” he said. “There were tires and refrigerators thrown in the water. I think the flood was a blessing in disguise, with the cleanup and rededication to restoring the canal.”
The 1998 United States Open Matchfishing Championships will draw more than 100 bank anglers (who fish from the shore), experienced and novice, to LaSalle May 30-31.
“In Europe, bank fishing is bigger than bass or walleye fishing is here,” Noonan said. “There are world championships. The canal is going to host the first U.S. open match fishing tournament.”
In addition to those who flock to the area for recreation, “there are people who are just interested in the canal and want to poke around into the history,” said Lamb, who handles calls from students doing research and from public agencies. A longtime Lockport resident, Lamb began the regional history collection in 1984.
“Some people sent or gave items, while some things were collected by the Illinois Canal Society,” Lamb said.
Lamb is particularly intrigued by the canal’s impact on the development of Chicago and its suburbs.
“The history of the area goes back to 1816, when the land was ceded by the Indians to the U.S. government for building the canal,” Lamb said. “That was two years before Illinois became a state. Many suburbs have streets called Indian Boundary that go back to that date.”
In fact, the unusual tail at the southeast corner of Downers Grove Township in DuPage County is there because of the canal. When DuPage County was being formed in the 1830s, its movers and shakers made sure that a portion of it reached down to take advantage of the transportation wonder.
As for the corridor, Gerald Adelmann, executive director of the Canal Corridor Association, said DuPage has the least amount of land in the corridor, but “it is a critical piece. DuPage was active in the planning of the corridor and of the trail.”
The canal went through three phases, Lamb said: “The first was from 1848 up until the 1870s, when it was really active as a commercial waterway. When the railroads took over (in the 1880s), it declined and people saw it as useless and they wanted to drain it.”
It was little used for half a century. In the 1930s, it was tapped for recreation.
“Its trails were used, people canoed it, and it connected all sorts of forested area,” Lamb said. “Public interest reached a (peak) in 1984 when the corridor was founded.”
Jean Thode of Willow Springs is the president of the Willow Springs Historical Society. For several months, she and other volunteers have sewn a 14-panel quilt that commemorates the sesquicentennial.
“It depicts different themes along the corridor, including Ft. Dearborn, the portage statue on Harlem Avenue, St. James Church and other sites,” Thode said.
The quilt will be on display at the Canal Digger’s Ball April 18 at the Willowbrook Ballroom in Willow Springs.
For the ball, people are invited to dress in period costume. Women will come in long, 19th Century-style dresses, and men will be dressed like fur traders, explorers and dapper gentlemen.
“The (special) events are going to be a nice perk for the anniversary,” Noonan said, “but the ongoing events — trail improvements and fishing, snowmobiling and just discovering history — will have a big impact on the area.”
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For more information about the Sesquicentennial events, tours and activities, call the Heritage Corridor Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-926-2262, ext. 150.
